Rainer Baumgart
Technology and Development, Secunet, GmbH

As an IT security expert, Rainer Baumgart directed several projects in this field before he joined Secunet. He is a specialist in Trust Center, Public Key Infrastructures, chipcard systems, and developing security concepts and models. After obtaining a doctoral degree in physics (University of Siegen and CERN, Geneva), he worked in client-server architecture and in evaluation of security systems.


Lutz Becker
Consultant in eBusiness and eMedia

Since 1991, Lutz Becker has advised a large number of businesses and public institutions in electronic commerce and electronic administration and has headed projects in Germany, Scandinavia, Switzerland, Great Britain, and in several countries of East Europe.
After years of working in advertisement, he studied media and business and received a Ph.D. in Business Administration, with a dissertation entitled Integrative Information Management. He worked for several consumer goods manufacturers. Philips, Inc. employed him for broad-based marketing and business-wide information and communications systems, then promoted him to international business manager in computer peripherals and multimedia.
From 1994-2000, he served as manager of Norman Data Defense Systems. He also teaches at the University of Wuppertal and heads the Data and Network Security Group for Information and Communications Systems of Germany.


Gerold Behrens
Professor, Marketing, University of Wuppertal

In addition to his teaching duties, Dr. Gerold Behrens carries out research in marketing, advertisement, and consumer behavior. After having received a degree in engineering at the Technical University of Berlin, he studied Business Administration and received both a doctoral and a post-doctoral degree. He has taught at several universities and is a member of several national and international professional associations.


Maike Bielefeldt
DIHT, Bonn

Having worked at DE-CODA, GmbH (Bonn, Germany) as a business manager since its inception, Maike Bielefeldt is now personal advisor to the managing director of the DIHT (the Organization of Chambers of Commerce of Germany). Prior to this, she studied business in Hamburg, Germany and Valencia, Spain, and began working at the DIHT in 1996, where she took part in a special training program that led to work in the area of electronic systems for business.


Norber Bolz
Professor of Communication Theory, Institute for Art and Design, University of Essen

Specializing in the theory of media, communication, and design, Norbert Bolz has written several books on the topic: The End of the Gutenberg Galaxy, Controlled Chaos, Cult Marketing, and The Economics of the Invisible (among others). He has carried on research in Paris, Utrecht, Sao Paulo, and Bloomington (Indiana). After receiving a doctoral degree in philosophy, religious studies, German, and English, he then went on to obtain a post-doctoral degree through his work on Philosophical Extremism between the Two World Wars.


Maja Bott
Communicatio Gruppe; Business Manager, Association of Online Provider Association

Before she assumed her current post in 1998, Maja Bott worked in Human Resources. In this capacity, she has organized working groups and roundtables at firms on the theme of Trusting the Internet. In 1999, she became a member of the management team at Communicatio Gruppe, a provider of information and communication services for mid-sized businesses. Here she is responsible for Business Communications. She is also active in several working groups and initiatives, such as the Munich Media Forum, a group that supports cultural programs using new media, and the Virtual Institute for East-West Studies (VIEWS), which supports educational exchange with countries of East Europe and the former Soviet Union.


Thomas Blum
Ergon Informatik AG, Zuerich

Thomas Blum is with Ergon Informatik AG and was a Researcher at the Fraunhofer Center in Research in Computer Graphics (CRCG) before joining Ergon. He received his M.Sc. in Electrical Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, MA and a Diploma in Electrical Engineering from Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich, Switzerland, in 1999 and 1992, respectively.
From September 1997 to May 1999 he was a Teaching Assistant at the Crypto-Lab of WPI. Prior to WPI, he worked as a project manager and senior engineer at the Department of Interlocking Systems, Automation and Telecommunications at Swiss Federal Railways. He is interested in cryptography and security, trusted e-commerce, and secure system architectures.


Gottfried Brem
Professor, veterinary medicine; Director, apoGene Biotechnologie, GmbHConsultant

A degree in veterinary medicine was only the beginning of a career that has progressed to encompass agricultural economics, animal husbandry, business administration, biotechnology, experimental genetics, and cloning. In addition to practicing veterinary medicine and university teaching, Gottfried Brem is a member of several national and international scientific associations investigating issues that will have an important impact on the future of humankind: genetic engineering, cloning research, reproductive biology, scientific breeding. He is also an active partner in several firms working in these areas.


Steve Diller
Cheskin Research, E-Business and Media Strategies, Palo Alto

Steve Diller brings more than 15 years of marketing consulting experience to Cheskin Research, and drives the firm’s media content practice. He specializes in understanding the evolving needs of consumers by observing them, talking with them, shopping with them, capturing their lives on film, and employing a wide range of other anthropological techniques. Prior to joining Cheskin Research, Steve was responsible for media research at Continental Bank. He also has been a professor at Columbia College (Chicago), teaching courses on advertising and marketing psychology, social marketing, market research, media, and political propaganda. Steve also owns a film production company and has produced and/or directed several feature films.
Steve received a BA in History from Carleton College in 1980, an MA in Public Policy Studies from the University of Chicago in 1984 and a BA in Film from Columbia College in 1990.


Johannes Ehrhardt
Director, Communication Culture Research Group; Director, Theory of Education, Teaching Institute, Hannover University

The nucleus of Dr. Ehrhardt’s work lies in the changes occurring in the economy, culture, and society during the transition to an information society. He concentrates on problem-oriented research regarding globalization, virtualization, new infrastructures, and process modeling in order to bring about new concepts in education, the stimulation of potential, and knowledge management. He also researches body-mind relations based on processes, developed through the Feldenkrais, sensory awareness, authentic movement, and body-mind centering approaches, and their applicability to teaching methods. His work in the arts is geared towards discovering new ways to foster creative expression. The results of his research have been published in over 100 articles.


Tim French
Senior Lecturer in Computing, Luton University, UK.

Tim French teaches Human Computer Interface Design at Luton University, as well as e-commerce technologies. He brings to semiotic applications to computer science a thorough understanding of HCI and the problems in using traditional HCI methodologies for e-commerce site design. His main interest is in developing design methodology to an extent in which it can compete with existing methodologies in this new arena.
He holds a Master’s degree in Computer Studies in Musicology from Nottingham University and is a Fellow of the College of Preceptors. He is an Associate member of the British Computer Society and a member of its special interest group in HCI. Through his articles, he has begun to establish a track record in the field of semiotic applications to computer science. In addition, he is a consultant for Internet technology.


Walter Gora
Chief Executive Officer, Gora, Hecken & Partners

Walter Gora studied Computer Science and Business Administration. After graduating with a degree in engineering, he worked for Philips Communications and established its Consulting Department. He then moved on to Diebold Germany, where he served as a department manager. Since 1993, he has directed his own consulting firm, which focuses on business organization and information and communication technology. He has also made a reputation for himself through his books (On the Way to a Virtual Business) and his many articles and seminars.


Paul Hoyningen-Huene
Professor and Chairman, School of Scientific Theory and Ethics, Hannover University

After studying physics and philosophy in Munich, London, and Zurich, Paul Hoyningen-Huene received his doctoral degree in Theoretical Physics. He has served as professor in the field at several prestigious universities, and has been visiting scholar at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Center for the Philosophy of Science (Pittsburgh). After teaching the history and philosophy of science at the University of Constance, he joined Hannover University.



Lars Karle
Vice President, Fraunhofer Center for Research in Computer Graphics, Inc. (CRCG), Providence, RI

In addition to directing business development at CRCG, Lars Karle is also responsible for the INI-GraphicsNet, an international network of institutions for advanced education, training, and R&D in computer graphics technology, systems and applications, with offices in Germany, Portugal, Singapore and the USA. His long list of professional accomplishments include: Director of Multimedia, Thyssen Telecom, where he worked on all aspects of new technologies; various management positions in the Professional Services and Solutions Business; systems engineer and analyst, project leader for real-time applications, computer communication and optical character reading.
Lars Karle holds an MS in Electrical Engineering from Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg, Sweden and has been a member of IEEE since 1978.


Hans G. Kastenholz
Chairman, Technology, Society, and Environmental Economy, Academy for Technological Impact Evaluation

After receving a doctoral degree in Behavioral Science and Envronmental Science, at the Technical College of Zurich, Dr. Hans Kastenholz taught as several institutes of higher education in Switzerland and Germany, specilaizing in Trust in Technology, Innovation and Development, Risk Communication, and Participatory Technical Evaluation. He is consultant for state and private institutions, a member of several national and international associations, and co-editor of the book series, Forum for Cooperative Policy.


Heinrich Kersten
Adjunct Professor, Mathematics and Economic Sciences, RW School of Technology, Aachen

Professor Kersten has applied his impressive knowledge of mathematics and computer science to the fields of software development, cryptography, computer security, product and system certification, and accreditation of test sites at several private and government organizations: Bayer, AG, General Automation, National Bureau for IT Security (BSI), DebisZERT. He lectures at conferences and seminars and has authored many publications on information security. He directs the Program and Organization Committees of the BSI and serves on the editorial boards of CD Security Management and the Handbook for Information and Communication Security. Professor Kersten also collaborates with working groups in the State of Bavaria that are attempting to resolve problems involved in networking and is a member of the Tested Online Shop of the European Business Institute.


Volker Ludwig
Consultant and Project Director, DETECON GmbH, Bonn

A specialist in system and network security, Volker Ludwig also works on improving protection against unauthorized access as well as high accessibility to system and network services. After earning his degree in Electronic Engineering, he worked as security consultant for Norman Data Defense Systems. There he developed applications in the areas of IT security, firewalling, certified service systems, access protection, anti-virus software, network security, and chip card based blocking systems.


Mihai Nadin
Professor and Head, Computational Design Program, University of Wuppertal; Consultant

Nadin’s intellectual curiosity led him to early work in computer technology. With advanced degrees in electronic engineering, computer science, philosophy, logic, and scientific theory, he can easily be described as a Renaissance man. He has taught at several universities in Europe and the USA and was among the first to advise them in establishing programs in CAD and CAE. He has also acted as consultant in applied digital technology for several important firms in the USA and abroad.
As an educator, Nadin has taught courses that anticipated future developments: applied semiotics, visualization, Internet applications, ubiquitous computing. The Computational Design Program, the first in the world, prepares design students for a world in which "the best computer will be invisible.” A prolific lecturer and writer, Nadin has 18 books, hundreds of articles and lectures, and several digital publications to his credit. He is now directing his research interest to anticipatory systems.


Maria Neumaier

Maria Neumaier received her doctoral degree in Business Administration from the University of Wuppertal, where she concentrated on Marketing. The resulting thesis is entitled Image Design. She is now working on her post-doctoral degree with a concentration in Marketing, Market Research, Advertisement, and Consumer Behavior, especially Market Research from the cognitive perspective. She is also member of the Research Group for Consumption and Behavior.





Robert Pestel
European Commission DG INFSO

Dr.-Ing. Robert Pestel is member of the Brussels Chapter of the Club of Rome. His area of operation include: Assessment of European policy options for promoting a sustainable development of the emerging globally networked knowledge society





Erhard Petzel
Director, NetBank AG; Professor, University of Regensburg

Dr. Petzel followed up his degrees in electric engineering and business administration with doctoral work at the School for Business and Economics in St. Gallen, Switzerland. There, he also served as Head of the IT Infrastructure Development Group. As a member of the TeleCounter Competence Center, he assisted in its conception and development of a multi-bank home-banking platform for e-commerce. In private industry, he has worked at Siemens’ Traffic Division to develop computer-aided driving, and at Systemintegrations GmbH, where he directed heterogeneous network systems.
As professor, he works in the areas of business systems, computer networks, computerized banking, and computer-based business. At NetBank, he is responsible for e-commerce, online banking, and It security.


Ortwin Renn
Spokesperson for the Board of Directors, Academy for Technical Evaluation

A sociologist, Ortwin Renn specializes in risk research, especially the research of social and psychological patterns in respect to risks arising from technological progress and threats to the environment. At Clark University (Worcester, MA), he taught the social aspects of environmental and technological issues and also headed the Center for Technology, Environment, and Development and the Interdisciplinary Institute for Peace and Conflict Research.
Renn’s interests led him to study business, sociology, and journalism at the University of Cologne, where he also received his Ph.D. in social psychology. He is a member of national and international associations and is on the editorial boards of several journals. A prolific writer, he has published seven books and over 150 articles.


Edmund Ronald
Researcher, Center for Applied Mathematics, Ecole Polytechnique, Paris.

Having obtained a doctoral degree in Computer Science and an academic degree in Telecommunications Engineering, Dr. Ronald has applied himself to researching the philosophical underpinnings of artificial life. His many articles have been published in books and scientific journals in Europe and the USA and cover topics such as artificial evolution, artificial life, tamperproof Internet computing, emergent engineering, neuro-genetic control, and neural networks. At present, he is carrying out research at the Technology Institute of the Swiss Federation in Lausanne.


Ingo Ruhmann
National Ministry for Education and Research

Before assuming his current position, Ingo Ruhmann worked for the German Parliament and in data security. He is a member of the Board of Directors of Computer Scientist for Peace and Social Responsibility, working in the area of evaluating risks of technical progress, research policies, and security technology. Ingo Renn holds a university degree in computer science and political science.


Henry Schäfer
Professor of Economics, University of Siegen

Professor Schäfer teaches business economics and finance, specializing in Finance and Asset Management and Capital Markets Analysis. His research interests include the evaluation of wealth objectives on the basis of real option theory and non-financial parameters (e.g., ethical aspects), the economic analysis of networking, especially client relations, the theory of market micro-structures, especially stock market-based financial market organization. Before joining academia, Dr. Schäfer worked as Senior Financial Consultant in Marketing and Analysis at a major German bank.


Karin Scherrer
Head, Office of Transfer and Cooperation for Job Creation, University of Wuppertal

Karin Scherrer oversees research aimed at developing the service industry sector in order to optimize business procedures and working conditions. This includes employee welfare and health protection, job creation, task organization, and the development of new forms of work. She also plans and moderates seminars and acts as consultant to business and industry. Karin Scherrer holds a degree in Industrial Psychology, with a concentration on Labor, Business, and Organizational Psychology.


Moshe Sipper
Researcher, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Lausanne, Switzerland

Dr. Moshe Sipper is a Senior Researcher in the Logic Systems Laboratory at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, Switzerland. He received a BA in Computer Science from the Technion -- Israel Institute of Technology, and an MSc and a PhD from Tel Aviv University. His chief interests involve the application of biological principles to artificial systems, including evolutionary computation, cellular computing, bio-inspired systems, evolvable hardware, complex adaptive systems, artificial life, fuzzy logic, and artificial neural networks. Dr. Sipper has published over 80 research publications in these areas, as well as the book Evolution of Parallel Cellular Machines: The Cellular Programming Approach (Heidelberg: Springer-Verlag, 1997). He was Program Chairman of the Second International Conference on Evolvable Systems: From Biology to Hardware (ICES98), held in Lausanne in September 1998.


Sergei Vershinin
Professor, Theory and History of Sociology, Gorky University

With university degrees in philosophy and sociology, Dr. Vershinin has directed his attention to various social phenomena of Soviet and post-Soviet Russia. Among his publications on the subject are: A People in Decline, Relation to the Present in Post-Totalitarian Society, The Problem of Regionalization in Post-Soviet Society. He has lectured and taught at several universities in Germany. Among his other professional activities, he is Head of the Goethe Institute in Jekaterinburg.




Mercedes Vilanova
Professor of Contemporary History, University of Barcelona.

Throughout her career, Professor Vilanova has been associated with major universities and research institutions in the USA and Europe. In her analysis of the 1930s in Catalonia, she developed a creative methodology that has afterwards been utilized by historians, political scientists and sociologists. Her main research themes range from anarchism, collectivization, electoral behavior, to women’s issues. Recently she has directed interest towards the impact of illiteracy in modern Spanish history. As a result of this interest, she founded the journal History, Anthropology, and Oral Sources, of which she is now editor. In 1996, she was elected to be the first president of the International Oral History Association. From among her many articles and books, The Atlas of the Evolution of Illiteracy in Spain 1887-1981 was awarded first prize by the National Educational Research Organization.


Adam Vile
Developer/ Technical Team Leader, Barclays Capital PLC, UK

Adam works mainly on Sybase/Unix client server systems and has substantial Web experience. Prior to joining Barclays Capital PLC, he was a Senior Lecturer in the department of Mathematics and Computing at South Bank University, specializing in Internet and e-commerce. His research interests have always centered on applications and theory of semiotics in a variety of areas including education, mathematics and Internet technology. He holds a Ph.D. in Computing and Semiotics Education and has published a number of refereed scholarly papers in related areas. He has a particular interest in e-finance as well as in developing practical semiotically enhanced Web design guidelines. He holds an MS in Mathematics and Astronomy from Hertfordshire University, an MS in Mathematics Education from South Bank University, and a post-graduate Certificate in Higher Education.


Rainer Wieland
Professor, Labor, Business, and Organizational Psychology, University of Wuppertal

Professor Wieland specializes in labor analysis, job creation, and psychological stress. He has several publications to his credit on the subjects of labor analysis, the job-related stress, recreational therapy, and new forms of work.







Johannes Wiele
Editor, Computer Reseller News

While studying German Language and Literature, Political Science, and Philosophy at the University of Münster, Johannes Wiele accumulated experience as a journalist and in IT pre-sales support. After receiving his degree, he worked for Microsoft Press, BHV Publishers, and The Learning Company. In his current position, he specializes in IT security and e-commerce. He is especially interested in content security and filtering, which he maintains is not an issue of technology alone. He has created and manages a Website on Content Filtering and is working on a book.


Jian Zhao
Head, Department of Digital Security Technology, Frauenhofer CRCG

Jian Zhao is responsible for Security, Copyright Protection and Digital Watermarking Technologies at the Fraunhofer CRCG. His current interests include Digital Watermarking, Digital Security, Mobile Agent Security, Agent-based Trusted Electronic Commerce, and Secure Audio over IP. He had been involved in research and development on concurrency control and recovery in distributed database systems, Management Information Systems, User Interface Management Systems, construction tools for database interfaces, computer-mediated and -supported classroom, cooperative user interfaces, multimedia technology, face and voice recognition. After receiving his Ph.D. in Computer Science from the Technical University Darmstadt, Germany, in 1996, he became one of the co-founders of MediaSec Technologies LLC. He also founded DELTA Information Consultancy Ltd. in Nanjing, China.